Nex-Effect: War & Peace
by hyr2519
Summary: A nexus bridges the worlds of nature and technology together, ushering in a new age of life in the galaxy. As the galaxy's most powerful information dealer, Liara uses her resources to continue the efforts against Leviathan, alongside only her most trusted companion (fluff side-story branching off of Nex-Effect I).


Bunkered down in the mess hall of a Blue Sun's facility, Javik stood with his particle-rifle aimed readily at the east entryway with Liara on his six. Together, they had successfully mounted an assault on the complex and recovered an alien orb belonging to the mysterious Leviathan, a newly-discovered alien menace. Liara also called upon her agency's private army to assist them on the mission, tasking them with breaking through the main entrance while she slipped in through the back with Javik, but the Blue Suns guards were too strong and their position too well fortified, both sides holding each other to a momentary stalemate.

The two of them faced waves upon waves of Blue Suns reinforcements closing in on their position. The mess hall was spacious but not designed to facilitate combat. Tables had been flipped over and arranged strategically around the room by Blue Suns as improvised cover when Javik and Liara broke in. Now they had to hold their ground until they could safely exit.

"Did your network discover any other Leviathan activity?" asked Javik as they waited.

"Nothing," Liara replied. "The Blue Suns ship that traveled in and out of Despoina is our only lead. Blue Suns leadership heard about the orbs and how the batarian government used them as weapons. They sought the orbs for their own, unaware of their indoctrination abilities."

"This threat calls for more than monitoring one planet," Javik pointed out. "Leviathan was raising an army with dangerous technology, much like the Reapers did with the Collectors. If you are not vigilant, you could lose entire regions of your space to this threat."

"You're right," Liara concurred. "The Alliance and my agency have given everything we have on them to every galactic government. They are taking steps: identifying indoctrinated behavior, use of anti-indoctrination apps, scoping out deep-sea areas on chartered planets. With many species taking on ambitious exploration efforts, our leaders are staying on the lookout."

"The Protheans would not have taken any chances," Javik stated. "Despoina should be obliterated, as should any planet with confirmed Leviathan presence."

"So you would destroy entire planets… in the name of saving them from the enemy," said Liara ironically. "And what if there are civilians living on those worlds? It's not that simple. Such efforts could make viable colonization sites uninhabitable, or even throw off the planet's gravitational fields and send an entire system into disarray."

"And yet those areas will be better off," Javik countered. "All a civilization can hope for with Leviathan beneath its surface is for a quick, merciful death before meeting it inevitable fate."

"Javik," said Liara dismissively, "that is false and you know it. Our mission with Kaidan proves we could save them."

"It was pure luck that we were there when it happened," stated Javik. "And if we had done what was necessary then, maybe we would not be trying to stop another army of thralls as we are now."

Liara sighed, rolling her eyes. She had lived with Javik long enough to know that there was no winning with him in these little debates. He was impossible. There were no extremes Javik was unwilling to entertain if it suited his position.

A mental link with his omnitool allowed Javik to use an application on the device called Night Vision, which granted him the ability to scan the field with its effects through his own eyes. Such abilities were now the condition of organic life in this galaxy, since the recent advent dubbed "harmonics." This particular ability, combining infrared and thermal technology, allowed the user to see through smoke, darkness, and even some solid surfaces. Courtesy the application, Javik detected another team of eight at the door. Just before the doors opened, Javik tossed an eezo grenade, landing it at the foot of the door. The grenade detonated and lifted five of the Blue Suns mercs into the air in an effect that imitated area-pull biotics.

Liara was aware of his intentions long before he equipped the grenade. Over cyberspace, the two of them were harmonically connected to a private communication-server, allowing them to rapidly strategize and coordinate their attacks in the heat of the battle. Anticipating the incoming hostiles upon his warning, Liara waited for Javik's move and then detonated the grenade's biotic effects with a biotic projectile of her casting. Javik then opened fire on the three targets that had escaped his grenade's gravitational field. His rifle rapidly shed the enemy's shields and eventually reduced the targets to ionizing corpses. After this, Javik, aiming down the sights of his rifle, cycled through the other targets once harmonically while employing MedApp VI to examine the enemy's vitals. According to his program, all targets were dead.

"Clear," said Javik in real-time.

Liara acknowledged this with a nod.

"Per our forces' server," Liara reported, "Lieutenant Torvus reports that they are still keeping Blue Suns at the gate occupied. The 'Suns tried to send a few of them our way and take us down from both sides, but with my control of the gate-system, the entire passage is locked down."

"How many are left?" asked Javik.

"Over 80 more 'Suns incoming, but my control over the facility's gate-system funnels them in into smaller groups."

"Let them come, then, Shadow Broker. We are ready."

Through her harmonic control of the facility doors, Liara unlocked the two doors between their position and the next closest group of Blue Suns reinforcements blocking their exit. Within their private cyberspace server, Liara shared her view of the facility through its surveillance cameras, allowing the two of them to see the next group of reinforcements: two heavies, five troopers, and an engineer.

Too easy, thought Javik, who would also use part of the server to formulate a strategy for the next wave of enemies.

 _When they met and started working together, Javik referred to Liara by her species, as he did most others - the lone living remnant of the previous galactic civilization awakened to a new one of 'primitive' races. In a heated exchange between them after Thessia fell to the Reapers, Liara made it a point to tell him she had a name. To her surprise, Javik called her by it as they reconciled._

 _It was "Liara" or "Liara T'Soni" for some time after that, but quite recently, it had become "Shadow Broker." While this was much more formal than necessary, Liara interpreted it as a show of respect, and one that she found terribly flattering. They had grown very close over the past year, so there was something cheeky about addressing her professionally. Such was probably not his intent, but Liara chose to enjoy it all the same._

A few moments later, the expected group of Blue Suns thugs appeared before them. Javik employed Dominate on the heavies through his device, which modified his biotics such that they pierced their target subdermally and sent an electrical signal through their nervous system - one which, in this case, directed them to aim their missile-launchers at the ground just beneath them and fire. The resulting explosion killed them both and several of their allied rifleman instantly, while also taking out the engineer and a combat drone just as it had spawned. Two troopers remained, whom Javik and Liara easily dispatched with their weapons.

"Clear," said Liara. "Let's bring in the next group." Through their harmonics, the duo spied the next group of hostiles.

"…Is it not disturbing to have invented the technology I am outfitted with?" asked Javik in real-time, filling the silence as they awaited their enemy.

"Not as disturbing as controlling entire civilizations like your people did," Liara quipped casually.

"That is not the same. Our rise to the top was earned, mandated by all natural forces of the universe."

"Putting aside your questionable argument, the device you use is contraband, and only few adepts have the power or skill required to work it."

"I imagine there are many fierce biotics in the underworld" Javik pointed out.

"Ardat Yakshi are immune to its effects," Liara added. "Some have suggested recruiting asari with their disorder as a special fighting-force against such users if the situation demands it. It will be a positive change, making them useful rather than casting them aside as our society has done for many centuries. Still, the device can do a lot of damage in the wrong hands - one of the more regrettable innovations of the new age."

"What became of the Ardat Yakshi predator Morinth was seeking?"

"I'm just getting the details on that one," said Liara. "Seems like major crisis was averted. I only hope the cost was not too high."

"Was she very powerful?" Javik queried.

"I never saw her fight," said Liara, "but by all accounts, yes. Her condition allowed her to equal her mother's strength at a much younger age. I was stunned to know Shepard spared her life. What's even more impressive is that she managed to stay out of trouble since their mission together. He had a way with the irredeemable, it seems."

Javik said nothing.

 _After the war with the Reapers ended, Javik and Liara remained close. He had nowhere to go, and she had use for a "bodyguard" while rebuilding her intelligence network. He was often not good company. Adjusting to civilian life proved difficult; war and being a soldier was all he had ever known. Complicating matters further, the war ended with an unexpected peace between both parties. The "Avatar of Vengeance," sworn to avenge his people when he was uncovered from his stasis pod, was left embittered, paranoid, and altogether confused by the war's outcome. Liara was patient with him, however, allowing him to air out his emotions and cope with the war's end._

 _On his better days, the couple would go sightseeing, visiting what historical sites or other tourist attractions they could find still intact after the war. Javik did not offer much of an opinion about these trips, but Liara sensed that he did enjoy them. At times, Javik said he could "feel" the history around such locations and would linger about, as though trying to fully take in the environment._

 _The two of them would return to the Normandy over a year after the war's first anniversary for another mission, this time under Kaidan Alenko's command. It was a welcome homecoming for both of them. Javik had gone back to what was familiar to him - war, and being a soldier. Liara was back in the company of friends she could trust - a rare commodity for someone in her line of work. It was here that the Leviathan menace was discovered and revealed to the world. This would be a defining moment for all involved as, for the first time, a few of the galaxy's very best were confronted by a major galactic threat without Commander Shepard to save the day. Together, they stood tall, strong, and ultimately prevailed._

A batarian Legionnaire in holographic blue tech-armor then entered the room with nine more henchmen at his side - several troopers, three centurions, and a combat engineer.

"Open fire!" the Legionnaire bellowed.

As the three Centurions attempted to rush Javik and Liara's position, Javik unleashed a wave of biotic energy upon them in an effect dubbed Disorient, which sent overwhelming sensory input to its targets with an effect akin to a flashbang grenade detonating at their feet. As they stood helpless and overpowered, Javik used the underbarrel shotgun attachment of his rifle to take the three of them out.

Liara, meanwhile, cast a Stasis sphere in the middle of the room that froze anyone that touched it, which successfully trapped about three enemies before Javik detonated its energy with a Throw projectile. The ensuing biotic explosion wiped out the engineer and two troopers while bringing down all other targets' shielding. Javik and Liara's weapons did the rest.

"… That's it," said Liara as the dust had settled.

Over cyberspace, the two of them examined the next group of hostiles: 12 mercenaries, mostly troopers/riflemen with two combat engineers. Within their comm-server, the two of them judged that they could take out this enemy squad easily enough and unlocked the doors blocking their entry. In real time, Javik lowered his weapon and Liara caught him looking down at the ground below him, distant. Though Javik was not easy to read, he seemed vaguely troubled to her.

"You look concerned," Liara pointed out. Javik appeared to come back to his senses.

"I-, …no, there is nothing. Let us continue."

"I hear Major Alenko is moving up in the Alliance world," Liara brought up casually, "and, the Normandy may have a new captain in Commander James Vega."

"James is a frivolous human," Javik commented, "but very impressive combatant. During the war, he showed great skill, but lacked refinement. The N7 training greatly honed his abilities."

"He reminded me at times of Shepard when I first met him," Liara wistfully reminisced, " - young, eager, with big dreams and such promise…"

"I sense he will have a similar career trajectory," Javik remarked. "Hopefully without premature death."

"The Alliance will be tasking him with leading the way on a number of ambitious exploration missions," said Liara. "That seems to be the direction galactic civilization is moving."

 _Javik continued to serve as Liara's agency after the mission as her most trusted commando, taking special interest in missions that involved investigating the Leviathan threat. He was a reformed man, still distrusting of the Reapers and synthetics in general, but accepting of the (momentary) peace they had won. This, after all, was the better part of what Javik had fought so long and hard for. As well, he had a new adversary in Leviathan, making them the primary target of his vengeance while remaining vigilant against all AI around him._

 _Now learning to live a life he would never experienced, and the mundane responsibilities that came with it, Javik would occasionally chat with some former associates like Garrus, Major Alenko, and Commander Vega. Liara was the only person with whom he had regular, personal contact, however._

 _He still had a few hundred years of life ahead. Though it felt strange at times for him to persist while his people had perished millennia ago, Javik had since found a new cause, something even stronger to him now than vengeance had ever been._

The next wave appeared. Twelve mercenaries entered the hall, and Javik had already devised a plan. Courtesy the upgrade device Javik was outfitted, his signature biotic ability Dark Channel was now more damaging and versatile. Javik channeled this power onto an enemy target standing in the middle of the pack. This attack now had an infectious property, damaging other targets that got too close, and could jump to other targets at the user's command, whereas it only jumped after killing its target in previous. All the while, Javik and Liara fired upon the shielded enemies until nearly all of them had lost their shields.

Javik then tossed out an eezo grenade, which moved several of the Blue Suns personnel away from its bounds, but Liara was prepared for this and cast a Singularity field into the area where Javik predicted the Blue Suns forces would cluster - the biotic gravitational field caught eight targets with his grenade detonating just close enough to set off her biotic trap in a sizable explosion.

Two Blue Suns troopers were left, as well as two Engineers, both of whom managed to set up a turret each. This forced Javik and Liara into cover, but Javik devised another plan. He popped out of cover during a break in the turrets' fire and cast Dominate onto the two Blue Suns riflemen, directing them to fire upon their allied turrets. The turrets failed to detect these brainwashed Blue Suns troopers as enemies and stood by idly as they were shot down, much to the engineers' chagrin. Liara pulled out her Phalanx and fired upon the enemies, as did Javik with his trusty rifle amidst the chaos. Soon, the four remaining hostiles were no longer.

"It is done," said Javik.

"It's been all too easy," Liara remarked. "The next two groups are smaller than the last, both parties of nine. I think we can take both at once."

"Yes," Javik concurred. "This is a unique opportunity to put our combined strength to the test. Bring in a larger group."

Liara nodded and complied, harmonically opening the doors such that the two Blue Suns parties of nine reunited, then moved their combined forces towards the mess hall.

 _Javik never sought love. In his cycle, growing close to lovers, friends, and even family was a weakness that the enemy could exploit. Even so, he'd made friends with more than a few fellow Prothean comrades in his time, only to feel the devastation of losing many of them to the enemy's insidious indoctrination. Javik had to grant them the mercy of their deaths, personally. What few intimate relationships he'd had were casual, only intended to fulfill a few basic needs._

 _Now, there was a woman in his life. He had seen and lived through some the worst kinds of hell on the galaxy, and most whom he had experienced that with were long dead. But Liara had been with him since the moment he was released from his lifepod, to the conclusion of the Reaper menace, and would remain at his side yet in his new life as a free man._

 _Liara's interest in Javik began with academic fascination of all things Prothean. While Liara took care of a lonely and ornery Javik in the immediate aftermath of the Reaper war, she would dismiss her constant thoughts of him as mere concern for a close friend, and perhaps her own loneliness. Deep down, however, she knew she'd felt this way only once before._

"-Have you checked on your daughter recently?" asked Javik abruptly.

Liara couldn't help but grin a little. "Nyla is fine with her grandfather," she answered calmly. "And she is your daughter too, Javik, no matter how much you try to avoid this truth."

"You put a lot of faith into a parent that abandoned you at birth," Javik responded.

"It wasn't like that at all! Benezia left without warning and hid her location."

"So she was not resourceful enough to find her own daughter, then. We had better pray that Nyla does not go missing. Atheyta is clearly useless at finding lost children."

"Okay, that will be- wait, ' _we_ had better?' Ohh, Javik - you _do_ care about our daughter!"

Javik sighed, conceding defeat. "You win this time, asari."

Before them appeared the 18 Blue Suns that they had been expecting. Once again, Javik cast Dark Channel to wreak havoc across their ranks while his rifle and Liara's Locust SMG worked to take down their shields. Javik was positioned afront, attracting far more attention between the two of them. Liara then erected a defensive biotic-sphere around their position, using over half of her natural biotic reserves, while her device employed a VI to regulate the usage of its biotic energy.

Javik then stood up out of cover, firing upon enemies that had lost their shields to his Dark Channel as it jumped to the next one, systematically eliminating the enemy squadron one-by-one. Though he attracted a lot of enemy fire, the biotic barrier around him absorbed a small portion of the incoming projectiles and coated outgoing fire with biotic Warp fields, while more importantly using the sphere's energy to replenish Javik's biotic barrier whenever they were breached. This defensive sphere also occasionally imbued him with hastening energy that sped up his movement and perception speed; he was running like a well-oiled machine.

The barrier would collapse a little as it absorbed damage, but Javik felled his adversaries at an even faster rate. As the sphere finally gave out, Javik and Liara had whittled down the resistance to a mere three targets, expending the last of its biotic energy to refill Javik's barrier one last time to 96% strength.

"Fall back!" cried out one of the Blue Suns troopers in panic. As the enemy trio attempted to flee, Liara locked down the entryway and Javik cast a Pull field that levitated them helplessly back towards them. Liara cast a Warp-projectile that detonated the effects, killing all three targets in the ensuing explosion.

"Not even a challenge," said Javik callously.

"There are 30 Blue Suns thugs remaining," Liara reported. "And the last group was not difficult." Liara utilized her omnitool harmonically to run an analysis of the combat data they had collected with the past few skirmishes and examined the results in their cyberspace server. Based on the information, their chance of success against a team of 30 was estimated at 68%.

In realtime, Javik voiced skepticism over this figure.

"Based on what I have seen," Javik declared, "the odds should be higher in our favor. Bring all of our remaining enemies into the field."

"Javik, that is a very risky move," an astonished Liara responded.

"Your machines are underestimating us," Javik insisted. "More data will prove that we are stronger than it has recognized."

Liara grimaced, and replied, "A 32% chance of failure is much higher than I am comfortable with. Shall we perhaps break it into something smaller?"

"Do you really believe another small increase will make a great difference?" Javik responded. "You know it has underestimated us. Let them all in. Only then will we have faced a worthy challenge."

Liara sighed, and relented, opening the proverbial floodgates by unlocking all doors between them and the remaining Blue Suns reinforcements.

"I hope you know what you're doing," said Liara.

"A millennia of fighting Reapers taught me much," said Javik confidently, "something that no simulations our soulless devices can even begin to comprehend. We will prevail."

 _It was not a gamble Liara felt comfortable with making, but his words did reassure her. Times like these made Liara feel ever so grateful to have Javik at her side. As the Shadow Broker, she was dangerous, but also attracted a lot of danger. Together, they made her agency a force to be reckoned with - her knowledge and resourcefulness combined with his strategic genius and combat prowess._

 _There was nobody else in the galaxy she trusted more to keep her safe._

Liara watched the incoming Blue Suns through the facility's surveillance system.

"Here they come," said Liara in real-time.

"Take your position," Javik responded, referring to a strategy he outlined over cyberspace. "We are ready."

As the entryway opened, 30 Blue Suns troopers hustled in and looked to scatter across the room. Javik cast Dark Channel immediately and unleashed a steady stream of rifle fire. Liara unleashed a Singularity/Stasis - a vortex of compelling anti-gravity with a stasis bubble in its center - at the foot of the door, then took cover and momentarily stayed out of the fight.

Enemies left unshielded by Javik's Dark Channel or the duo's rapid-fire weapons were trapped by this biotic dragnet, while shielded enemies were considerably slowed by it as they attempted to rush through the door. As Liara's trap caught nine targets, Javik detonated the effect with another new biotic ability granted by his device: Downpour. This attack cast out a wave of destabilizing biotics, and the resulting explosion shook the room - killing all nine enemies instantly while dealing damage across enemy ranks. All hostile targets in the area had lost much (if not all) of their kinetic shield power to this combination-attack.

As Javik had expected, the Blue Suns were attempting to encircle their position, likely seeking to surround them. This entailed the riskier part of Javik's plan. Javik first identified the most vulnerable enemies in the 'field over cyberspace, prompting Liara to single out these targets. Liara complied, pulling out her hard-hitting Phalanx sidearm and rejoining the fight. Their kill-counter in cyberspace tallied another five squad kills over the next eight seconds. One Legionnaire, two engineers, four centurions, one heavy, and several more riflemen remained. The 'Suns were now done to roughly half-strength, but they now had Javik and Liara under siege, posing a threat that the two of them had not faced yet from any previous Blue Suns team.

Liara then erected a biotic sphere around them. They would attempt to make a stand against the remaining hostiles, dependent largely on the sphere holding up. Liara had little biotic power of her own left, committing the majority of it to this sphere. Though the enemy had them surrounded, but Javik and Liara were steadily eliminating their opponents one-by-one. Another five kills were logged over the 15 seconds.

The shotgun-wielding centurions then made a push, closing in on the two of them. Javik used Dominate to turn one of them against their allies, causing the target to take out one of his friendlies before drawing allied fire that put him down as well. Next, Javik used Disorient on another shotgunner, rendering him unable to attack. Another one closing in on Liara had its shields removed after Javik directed his Dark Channel onto him, then cast Debilitate, leaving him incapacitated at the slightest amount of damage past his shields. Liara did the rest. A fourth shotgunner approached Javik, but lost its shields to Dark Channel, and then was neutralized by the under-barrel shotgun of Javik's rifle. Javik similarly took out the centurion under the effects of Disorient, as well as two combat drones sent their way by the engineers.

With only six hostiles left in the area, Liara directed her biotic device's VI to purge the sphere, letting loose its unstable energy waves onto all targets outside of it. Javik cast two area-Pulls that managed to catch all six targets. Liara finished them off with two Throw projectiles, setting off an effect that neutralized the remaining mercenaries.

…

"Victory," Javik proclaimed approvingly.

"Excellent! Our path to the back exit is now clear," said Liara. "Back to the shuttle; we have what we came here for."

[-]

Over the shuttle's vid-comm, Liara communicated with Lieutenant Torvus, commanding officer of the mercenary team that Liara had assigned this mission.

"After your team annihilated Blue Suns reinforcements," the lieutenant reported, "our forces were able to push and overwhelm the remaining troops standing guard. Our scouts are now reporting a few pockets of Blue Suns falling back where they can. We stand ready in case more of them arrive from off-world, but I understand Aria T'Loak will be sending some of her own to help us. Safe to say the 'Suns are finished here, ma'am."

"Glad to hear it," said Liara. "Nothing further."

"Understood. Torvus out."

Liara cut the line and turned to Javik, sitting aside silently as per usual.

"Colonization teams commissioned by the Asari Republics will move in and begin planning for a new colony world," said Liara, her tone taking a turn more morose. "Countless asari refugees are looking for a home, and this could be it for many of them. It's the least I could do for them, after what happened to Thessia during the war."

"Asari civilization endures today only because of your efforts," Javik reassured her. "You have done more for your people than they could have asked." A rare display of empathy from the grim Prothean warrior. Touched, Liara smiled a bit.

"Aria will also be compensating us for our trouble," she continued. "I'm sure she'll be happy with how our efforts here cripple the Blue Suns' operations. Her funds, as well as the returns from colonization efforts, will be a big relief for us. Our agency's expenses since the war have been considerable, while information sales and other profitable operations dropped sharply."

"I am more concerned about these orbs," said Javik. "They should be destroyed, not confiscated."

"No," Liara insisted. "These devices are crucial. The Alliance has made a number of findings since retrieving the ones on Khar'Shan. I want my agency to have that same knowledge behind our efforts against Leviathan. I'd hoped the Alliance would lend me one, at least, but have been unwilling to share."

"Very well, Shadow Broker."

Oh, there it was again. That title. How he called her that, she found that respect endlessly flattering. So formal, even when the two of them had few secrets left between them.

"Glyph," Liara called out, with something vaguely mischievous behind her words. "What's our ETA to the cruiser?"

"2 hours: 12 minutes, Dr. T'Soni," the info-drone reported.

"Well," said Liara, taking a few steps forward to her Prothean companion. "We _do_ have a few hours, you know, and plenty of time on our hands…"

Javik turned his stoic gaze to Liara, who then turned around and unbuckled her breastplate, revealing her bare back to him.

"Goddess," she added while holding her chest, without much subtlety in her sultry tone, "feels so nice to get this armor off after a long, _hard_ mission…"

In the back of his head, Javik knew there was something very wrong about becoming intimate with the "primitives." If he'd ever thought it out further, the whole idea would probably revulse him entirely.

So he did not think it out further. Nothing in this cycle really made sense to him anyway.


End file.
